Avidyā (Buddhism)
| Translations of avidyā | |
|---|---|
| English | ignorance, misconceptions |
| Sanskrit | avidyā (Dev: अविद्या) |
| Pali | avijjā (Brah.: 𑀅𑀯𑀺𑀚𑁆𑀚𑀸) |
| Burmese | အဝိဇ္ဇာ (MLCTS: əweɪʔzà) |
| Chinese | 無明 (Pinyin: wú míng) |
| Indonesian | ketidaktahuan, kebodohan |
| Japanese | 無明 (mumyō) |
| Khmer | អវិជ្ជា, អវិទ្យា (UNGEGN: âvĭchchéa, âvĭtyéa) |
| Korean | (Hangeul) 무명 (Hanja) 無明 (RR: mu myeong) |
| Sinhala | අවිද්යාව |
| Tibetan | མ་རིག་པ (Wylie: ma rig pa; THL: ma rigpa) |
| Tagalog | avidya |
| Thai | อวิชชา (RTGS: awitcha) |
| Vietnamese | vô minh |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
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Avidyā (Sanskrit: अविद्या; Pali: 𑀅𑀯𑀺𑀚𑁆𑀚𑀸, romanized: avijjā; Tibetan phonetic: ma rigpa) in Buddhist literature is commonly translated as "ignorance". The concept refers to ignorance or misconceptions about the nature of metaphysical reality, in particular about the impermanence and anatta doctrines about reality. It is the root cause of Dukkha (suffering, pain, unsatisfactoriness), and asserted as the first link, in Buddhist phenomenology, of a process that leads to repeated birth.
Avidyā is mentioned within the Buddhist teachings as ignorance or misunderstanding in various contexts:
- Four Noble Truths
- The first link in the twelve links of dependent origination
- One of the three poisons within the Mahayana Buddhist tradition
- One of the six root kleshas within the Mahayana Abhidharma teachings
- One of the ten fetters in the Theravada tradition
- Equivalent to moha within the Theravada Abhidharma teachings
Within the context of the twelve links of dependent origination, avidya is typically symbolised by a person who is blind or wearing a blindfold.